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The World Health Organisation estimates that a minimum of 7.5 litres of water per day is required just for drinking.  

To ensure basic food hygiene, around 20 litres a day is needed. If not used at source, laundry and bathing might require higher amounts.  While city-dwelling South Africans in water-restricted areas like Cape Town and Port Elizabeth have been tasked with using only 50 litres per day and have responded for the most part positively and creatively to the challenge, rural and informal settlement areas don’t have such luxury. Without access to clean water for basic needs, people are unable to thrive. 

The drought in 2016, which was named as the worst drought in 30 years,  saw the government declare five of the nine provinces drought disaster areas for agriculture . Numerous South Africans banded together to send much-needed water and animal feed to regions affected. More recently, the Western Cape and now Port Elizabeth have and are facing severe water restrictions. 

South Africa is considered to be a water-scarce country and must live within its water ‘means’.  Robert Erasmus, Managing Director of Sanitech, says, “We’ve had a bit of a wake-up call and I think most people have managed to step up in the most recent water crisis in Cape Town. But, we need to all get into the habit of conserving water as much as possible.”

The internet is awash with tips on saving water, such as the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) tips that can be found on their website: 

• Ditch the bottled water – it takes 3 litres of tap water to make one litre of bottled water
• Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth and save 9 litres
• Take a 5 minute shower and save up to 100 litres that baths can use
• Change to a water-efficient showerhead and half your consumption
• Turn off the water while washing your hair
• Flush less when you do and put a 2l bottle filled with water in your cistern 
• Fix leaky taps – even a slow drip can waste 30 litres a day
• Only use your dishwasher when its full and stop it before the drying cycle so it can air dry
• Sweep away leaves and debris rather than using a hose to spray them away
• Minimise how often you wash your car
• Put buckets in the shower for runoff water and under drains to catch water during rain for your garden
• Plant a water-wise garden with indigenous drought-resistant plants

Every habit can make a difference, but when it comes to companies, schools and similar where immense amounts of water are being used daily just for toilet flushing, more robust action is needed. One of the solutions to saving water while also delivering the basic human right of adequate sanitation, specifically in schools and informal settlements, is Sanitech’s Khusela DST (Dry Sanitation Toilet). At the beginning of 2018, Sanitech provided portable toilets for a manufacturing company in Cape Town as a substitute for their normal toilets, saving them 10,000 litres of water each day. Serving 150 employees, the units were kitted out with hand sanitisers, which also assisted in water saving. 

“That’s just one example of how our technology can be used, not just during disasters, but as a viable solution to the need for water-saving solutions to schools and communities who have no access to water or proper sanitation,” concludes Erasmus.  

About Sanitech
Sanitech is a leading provider of cleaning and hygiene services, operating in sub-Saharan Africa. It prides itself on being the continent’s leader in toilet hire and technology, providing superior products and excellent customer service. Sanitech is a division of Waco Africa, 52% Black Owned Level 3 BEE contributor.

For more information contact:

Candice Hamilton
candy@successfulmedia.co.za

Robert Erasmus
robertE@sanitechco.za